Summer of the Black Sheep
by Fawn of the woods
Summary: Keepville was a quaint little town.A stranger moves into an abandoned house, but no one ever sees them.An eight-year old boy decides to befriend the house in the process he learns.Not dark.To Kill a Mockingbird was the inspiration. -on fictionpress-
1. FIrst installation

This story is for the national novel writing month contest. It will not be proofed until December. Also until then the CHapters are posted when I stop writing for the day, thus there will be no strategy to the chapter breaks until Dec at which point I will redo the entire thing grammar and position wise.

Also, I want to apologize to my Naruto readers. I have a birthday fic and the first chapter of my next fic ready, but it needs proofing. Other than that naruto will be on haitus until this contest is done. I'm sorry to spring this on. Especially to filly8 who has reviewed nearly all my chapters and to A Forgotten Fairy..AKA- Fairy who also has been following my stories closely.

**The Summer of the Black Sheep**

The city of Keepville was a one of those quaint little towns in the middle of no where. It was over an hour to St Paul or anywhere else you would like to go. Sure there was a grocery store and small mall, that had a JCPenny's, WalMart, and Dollar store. There was an ice cream shop down the road from the market and a video store in the game store. A lake, that couldn't have been more than a puddle to most was on the far east end of town. THe main road, which led to the only nearby highway, went northwest/southeast, through the town. The school was off to the right and the courthouse to the left. The main park was in the center of the only business district, consisting of less than 6 twenty story buildings. Most of the houses were those older style one story houses that used to have picket fences but the contractor ran out of money before he got to the fence. Honestly you could walk the entire length of town in less than three hours if you wanted. It wasn't an exciting town.

Tommy grew up in this town. For eight years he had played in the pond called Lake Keepsake. For eight years his father had gone to work in one of those twenty story business buildings as a manager. His mother had gone to work down in the market for Mr Pottery. Tommy's sister now worked at the ice cream place and she would growl when he came to bug her. Tommy's friends, Sam and Jones, would always wiat for him on the corner of their streets and they would decide what to do. It was usually a toss-up between swimming, frogging, baseball, or soccer. Then they would head off, meeting up with the rest of their age-group as they went. Total, there was usually around 30 of them. They were all the people between ages 7 and 11 in the city. Indeed, Tommy, Jones, and Sam had only joined in in the last summer. This summer was different though.

Although they had done this for years, this summer they were no longer aloud to play in Johnson's field. They had always played Baseball, or soccer there. That was were the frogs were, on Leaf Creek. But this summer, when they went there, they encountered a fence with a sign that read, "No Trespassing" which the older kids explained meant they couldn't go inside the fence. Although they could go to the pond, it wasn't wamr enough yet to enjoy it. Rather it was perfect for baseball. They sighed and began to head for the pond. THey went around town to avoid the hustle and bustle of mothers and aunts moving around in the market. In this size town the odds were good that they'd run into one that was related to one of them and then they'd all be consigned to carrying their shopping things.

Tommy had never actually gone around the town this way before. As they were walking in the furthest northeast corner the older kids turned toward town and continued to walk. Tommy and his friends stopped and looked at them. Why go around this empty field? In fact, why not use a perfectly good field for baseball. There were Trespassing signs here. They ran to catch up with the older kids and asked. They were told a story.

Nearly 10 years ago, that house had been un-lived in for longer than anyone could remember. Then overnight, it was fixed up and the lights could be seen on. They watched for a week, but saw no one. Finally someone went up and knocked on the door to welcome the new neighbor, but no one answered. Many people tried but still no one answered. Over the next few months, the townspeople noticed a high fence going up around the back of the house. Once done, it encompassed nearly half the land. It was made of sturdy, but flat pieces of wood. No one knew what was going on behind the wood, but the local gossip-mongers definitely wanted to. They looked up the owner in the town hall and discovered the name Jordan Mistopi. His address online was in Chicago, IL. They tried writing him without success. Finally a group of them took a weekend and went to visit him.

After they finally found him, they asked him just what was going on. They didn't not want upset in their little town. He told them that his friend was living there and that they simply didn't want anyone disturbing them. They paid the taxes through him, had groceries delivered by mail and generally wanted to be left alone. Please leave them all alone. The townspeople were then escorted out of the residence without having found out so much as a name.

FOr the most part the town followed the man's request, they left the house alone. But the teens in the town had a different idea. They began making it a practical joke to run up and knock on the door and run away. They would peer in the windows and try to see past the curtains. Apparently they annoyed something.

Tommy and his friends were told how the culprits would be walking home and they would be tripped by air, or a branch would fall on them. One kid who actually threw a rock at the window and broke it found himself at the hospital for a nasty gash on his leg. He wouldn't say anything about what happened, but when the town wanted to do something about the houses inhabitant, he simply refused to be a part of it. He had said he wasn't going to bother that house again. He insisted it wasn't fear, but he definitely as scared of something. Now the adults had made the children swore not to approach the house.

Tommy reasoned that if they were in the field, they weren't at the house, but only his two friends would listen. The rest left for the pond, but Tommy, Sam and Jones decided to explore the field. With some trepidation they stepped into the field.

The edge of the field was marked with plain orange string with a peg every so many feet. It was actually and nice field, though un-kept. Tommy thought it was perfect and they wondered until they found a flat area. Nothing bad had happened. Maybe it only did when the house was disturbed. Though JOnes thought that maybe the accidents only happen at night.

Jones real name was Garfield Sampson. He hated the name Garfield though. Almost as much as he hated his father for leaving his mother and his sisters. His dad was a local bum for the last three years. He slept in the park, drank what little money he had at a bar, and had never even met his youngest daughter, born two months after he had left. Garfield was named after him. Jones came fromt he fact that the first time he was in the market area by himself he had backed away from a stumbling store clerk into a large pile of Jones Soda and knocked it over. 42 was the total bottles broken, the cost of which was divided between his mother and the store clerk. Thus he became Jones. The clerk, who had left a year later, had also gained the nickname Boxes because he always was seen carrying them.

Despite Jones dark premonition, the three of them stomped down some grass on a flat part of the field and began to play catch.

000

They played until the sun was low in the sky, signaling dinner time. Smiling at each other, they walked home. They didn't look at the house as they walked. If they had, they might have seen a certain window. A window with it's curtain pulled back some. They might have seen the hand cloaked in black brush it back into place.

_Jen hurried down the hallway. She was late for school again. As she turned, she heard the kids laughing in the classroom. She smiled as she skidded around the corner. She open the classroom door to see no one. She frowned as she went to her seat and sat, panting. Sighing she looked at the clock and got out her work book._

_She heard the bell ring and slowly got out of her desk and wandered to to buses. She heard the laughter and chatter outside. She wandered through the empty courtyard. She sighed as she climbed on the bus and rode it home. Briefly, she wondered what was for dinner._

000

Tommy and Sam walked without Jones today. He was helping out in a store to earn some money. They met up with the normal group of kids. Jake was the first to spot them.

"Hey, where's Jones? Did something happen?"

"No, he's working with his mother today." Tommy responded eagerly. "The field is perfect. We have to pat down the grass some but still, lets play there today!" They looked at each other a moment. Many of them had been alive, though not very old when that boy was hurt, but maybe over the years the person had left without anyone knowing. They all nodded and walked down the lane.

When they got there, Tommy and Sam walked across the border easily, barely noticing it. The others all stepped across it then paused and look around as if the boogey man was going to jump out at them. Then, breathing a sigh of relief they continued, albeit cautiously. Sam led them to the flat area on the other side of the hill. When they got there, both he and Tommy paused. THe others looked at them, confused, before proceeding passed them to set down their stuff. TOmmy and Sam looked at each other and gulped. It seems that their visit didn't go entirely un-noticed.

The field was mowed.

The others didn't think it was weird, just great. They didn't have to pat down grass. They marked out bases and started to divide up teams. Tommy and Sam ended on the same team. After letting the other team get 4 runs, they finally switched places to bat. Tommy and Sam were last, being the youngest. They just looked around while they waited. Inadvertently, both their eyes were drawn to the house. They wondered about the past and yesterday.

They had been into the game for nearly an hour before they called break. Everyone brought out water bottles. Tommy and Sam sat on a conveniently placed stump on the edge of the field. They sat there drinking water and looking around. Again their eyes were drawn to the house. Mr Mistopi owned nearly 50 acres here, with half of that inside that tall fence. Tommy wondered why. Why would someone go to all this trouble to be alone. Before he coul think on this further, he was called back into the game.

000

As they split for the night they all promised to come back the next day and play again. None of them noticed the curtain on the second story pulled back. None except Tommy. He glanced back in time to see it fall back into place. He frowned before Sam called him to hurry up. Just what was in that house.

_Jen was tired. SHe had been at this for nearly three hours. But she didn't want to stop. She panted as she pushed herself up and started again. She worked on her strength and flexibility every day after dinner. She pushed herself through another set with weighs._

_She wondered into the pool. It was as motionless today as every other time she had been here. She looked at the floaties that still were in the pool. Gently she pushed them out of her way as she swam. She knew every inch of this pool and every floaty in it. At this point it seemed as if she always had. _

_Her workout ended at 9 pm like always. She showered, dried and dressed before driving herself home. Just like every other school day. Every day._

000

When Tommy and his friends arrived the next day the area was as they had left it. They set up their bases. They were earlier today because there was a barbecue in the park tonight, what with it being Friday, and they wanted a good game before they had to go. They had played for over two hours before someone called a stop mid-play. Tommy looked up from his studying of the bugs in the "dugout" to see what was the commotion. They all were gathering around that stump. When he got closer, he realized that the stump wasn't empty. In fact, it was covered. Covered with sandwiches. They were mini-sandwiches. They hadn't been there earlier, Sam had already sat on the stump for a breather. Tommy watched as Jessica took one and bit it. She smiled as she nodded to the others. Everyone took one and bit it. They were very good. Tommy smiled as he saw Jones eat three. Jones usually gave much of his meal to his sisters so he was hungry a lot. Tommy glanced towards the house in question. He got up and wandered towards the house. No one saw him leave.

He approached the house and looked at it. It was big for this town, being two stories. Originally painted blue, it was faded and pealing now and he could see green curtains on the first floor. He circled the front of the house. The front door was a plain red one, a faded welcome mat was placed on the porch, covered in leaves. In fact, the entire front porch was covered in leaves. He carefully placed his foot on the first step and froze. He looked around slowly. Then determining that no one was coming to yell at him, he continued up the steps. Once on the porch, he saw that the wind had blown some of the leaves into the corner and they were starting to clog up the drain pipe. He knew that his dad always said not to let it get clogged. Tommy went over and carefully pulled out the sticks and leaves. He didn't see the person look out the window or hear the door creak open behind him. When he finished, he turned to find a small plate with a cookie on it. He looked at the house in wonder. After staring at the cookie a moment he decided to take it. He loved chocolate cookies. He figured that the others would be looking for him about now, so he turned to leave. After he had hurried down the steps he stopped. Looking back at the house, he smiled.

"THANK YOU!" His shout echoed slightly as he ran off to the field again.

000

The barbecue went smoothly. The drunk bums got drunk, the fathers joked and laughed, the mothers relaxed and chattered., and the kids gathered and played games.

Garfield Sampson walked unsteadily away from the lights. He had seen his family there and he didn't want his daughters to see him. As far as they knew right now he wasn't that bad, just absent. Gar sighed heavily. He wished his search wasn't so hopeless. He had been laid off three years ago and hadn't had the heart to tell his wife. She worked so hard, and pregnant too. Finally he left. One less mouth to feed, he thought. He wasn't doing them any good anyway. He didn't have a high school diploma, and he couldn't find a steady job. The odd job bought him some food and drink. When he was drunk, he could forgive himself. He never forgot but for a small while he could forgive.

Deciding between the park and the pond for the night, he decided to avoid the park, since it was probably going to be full of young lovers in the balmy night air. He headed down the deserted streets towards the east end of town. He turned down another street when he tripped and went sprawling. Cursing, he rolled over, before he puked, and sighed. These things always seemed deserved. He was about to get up again when he noticed a shadow in the street light. Looking up and to the right he saw a cloaked figure. He smiled slightly then laughed hopelessly. Death itself was coming for him. It was what he deserved. He sobered and then looked at the figure. It just stood there, cloak wavering in the gentle breeze. Slowly, almost hesitantly it approached the sitting man. It stopped several feet away. A black gloved hand reached out towards him. Looking at it stupidly for a moment, he grinned slightly and took it. The figure pulled him up and to his feet. He stood there and waited. The figure had started to walk off. It turned and looked at him a moment. After consideration it gestured for him to follow it and continued walking. He started to follow before he stopped.

"Hey," It looked back at him. "If I come, will I be able to return and see my kids? Can I watch them grow up?" He was ready to go, but the pull of seeing his son become a man and his daughters become young ladies was too great. He looked at the figure, willing it to understand him. The figure looked at him and reached out a hand. He looked at it a moment. The figure started to retreat the hand when he grasped it. The figure looked at him, then squeezed his hand back. This close, Gar could see a face in the cloak. A pale face barely showed in the darkness. He felt the firm grasp on his hand. As he followed the figure, he couldn't decide if it was commanding or desperate.

The pond had one less sleeping bodies that night.

000

Tommy tried to protest as his mother carried him home. He wasn't that tired. But it felt really good. He saw his father carrying Jones as Jones' mother carried his youngest sister. Sam's mother carried his other sister as Sam was carried by his own father. He was glad they were friends. This was his thought as he drifted off to sleep.

_Jen smiled at the empty auditorium as she held her diploma. She had worked hard at her studies. She had been accepted into MIT for her computer skills and she was looking forward to going in two weeks. She walked over to the banquet table to nibble at the food there. It was actually pretty good. She went home later and ate some of the cake left on the counter from the dinner she had missed. She could hear the TV on in the other room and her brothers talking about the day to her parents. About to go in, she caught herself. This was her graduation day. She wasn't going to be depressed. She wandered upstairs and opened her diary. _

_Two weeks later she smiled as she drove away from home. Her stuff was all packed in the car and she was ready for the eight hour trip. She had CD's, food, and gum. She was ready for college. She stopped for gas before leaving town. She debated putting it on her brand new personal credit card but figured she'd have plenty of time to spend her hard earned money. She paid with her parents credit card._

_Arriving at the campus had been interesting. She had located her dorm room with little trouble. She was on scholarship so housing was paid, as long as she was on campus. She would share a bathroom with her floor and a common room with six other people, but her bedroom was hers. She slowly unpacked everything as she listened to the bustle outside her door. She could hear at least three of her "roommates" but had little desire to go out and look around yet. There would be plenty of time for that once she was unpacked. She sighed as she sat on her bed and looked at her photo of her family. She knew she would miss them, but she couldn't even hear them now. She fell back against her bed as she could feel the tears she had promised not to shed return. She really hated this._

000

Tommy, Jones, and Sam arrived at the field early the following Monday. The weekend was usually spent with their families, but now it was Monday. They reached their field to find that it had been tilled. They pouted, thinking it was going to be farmed for a moment before Sam pointed out that it was tilled in a diamond. They wandered it and saw that four square pillows had been covered in canvas sacks and placed on the four corners. They looked at each other speechlessly. Then all three pairs of eyes turned towards the house. Slightly awed, they looked at each other and ran towards the house. Stopping a few feet from it, they stared at it as if it would show it's secrets if they watched closely enough.

It didn't move, as houses tend to, and Sama and Jones lost interest. They went over to prepare for everyone else's arrival. Tommy stared at the house a moment longer. The curtain on the second story was brushed aside. As he turned, he waved and smiled. Maybe they couldn't meet them, but someone in the house like them.

They played a good game that day. Again they found a snack on the stump. They were some sort of meat balls. They were sweat and tasty. They all enjoyed them before getting back to the game. Tommy got his first home run that day.

000

As they left, Tommy turned left instead of right. He wanted to get some ice cream and walk with his sister home. She worked late and he knew that she was still skittish about the dark. Not scared, just nervous. When she was younger she had fallen down into the riverbed in the dark once and no one could find her. She was found the next morning when the sun rose. She had been only four at the time and even now after 12 years, she still was wary of the dark. Tommy may annoy his sister and she may be bossy, but she was HIS sister and he didn't like how white her face would get when she came home after dark. She looked like a ghost or something.

He was deciding which ice cream to eat when he arrived. On nights that she worked late, the entire family had dinner really late, so he figured a small snack was okay. He waved at his sister, who glowered at him before asking what he wanted. He wanted a double cone, but her stern look and he changed his mind. He had half a scoop of superman ice cream. He licked at it happily as he waited for her to sign out. She sighed as she started walking them home. He knew she wouldn't let him walk home alone form the ice cream place so he just waited. She was just leaving when one of her classmates called to her.

"Lisa, your notebook is right here!" She sighed before putting on a smile.

"Thank you Jared. Have a good night." She turned and started walking with Tommy as she put her small journal in her purse. He caught her arm.

"Hey, Lisa, I was wondering. You get out right at a perfect time go and see the fireflies on the pond. Just us, you know. I have a nice blanket in my car." Jared's father had transferred here as a lawyer from Duluth around Christmas time, thus Jared always seemed to have everything and get everything. Tommy didn't really like him because he yelled at them when they accidentally ran into his car while playing soccer. Lisa grasped Tommy's hand firmly and shook her head.

"Sorry, I have to walk my brother home. Good night." She turned and walked away briskly, pulling Tommy with her. Once they were around the corner, she slowed down, though she didn't release Tommy's hand. He was okay with it, since he had already finished his ice cream. He looked up at his sister.

"Sis, you could have asked for a ride from him." She frowned.

"I would rather not be near him. You shouldn't either, Tommy." He looked at her as her eye flitted around due to the darkness.

"That's okay, I don't like him very much. He's too testy. I yelled at us when our soccer ball hit his car. It didn't even get dirty." She smiled at his pout before looking forward again.

"He is just very used to everything going his way. Too much so." Tommy looked at her as he thought about it. It made sense, he did act like a spoiled brat sometimes. Besides he was obviously to focused on himself to see that his sister hates the dark, so she would hate to look for fireflies. He shook his head. What an idiot.

000

_Jen cracked her neck as she finished her homework and e-mailed the program in to the professor. She was glad that everything was going well. She had gone home for Christmas and found herself missing this place. She didn't know college could feel so much like home. She held a picture of her family and her roommates. She could hear them through the door and could identify them by their voices now. Sometimes she even saw them. She watched their video's online and looked at their pictures._

_She knew that Sarah's birthday was in a few days. She would place a gift on her bed. Sighing she sat up again and logged on to the server. She had a side job in de-bugging on-campus systems. She could do it from home so it was perfect. She read through the list of requests and forwarded the one that seemed like a hardware problem. Then she ordered them by date and began on the first one. She was in for a long night._

000

The town went through the first week of June in relative peace. The baseball field was joined by a soccer field and a storage shack. Everyday some sort of snack would appear. They figured that it was foreign food eventually. None of them told their families about their playing field. No one thought to ask. On the days when they went swimming, Tommy still walked over and visited the place. He would sit on the porch, nibbling at cookie that magically appeared, and talk about this and that. Every now and then when he said something funny he could almost hear a chuckle or a giggle from the house. He also brought a broom one morning and swept off the porch, explaining to the house that his father had taught him to not let the leaves build up.

He really enjoyed talking to the house. It was always there, and it never told him to leave it alone, like his sister, and it never told him he was silly for thinking as much as he did, like his friends. He liked thinking. About people, things, ideas, and everything. Like why did Jones' fatehr leave? No one had seen him around recently. Also, when was the base ball bat invented? Why did school have to be so strict? When is someone grown up? All these questions his friends had no interest in he found himself asking the house. He would speculate for a while before leaving. Then several days later he would find a book about the topic on the porch. Sometimes he would read there, talking about the book as he read it. Sometimes he couldn't finish it, so he took it home and returned it the next day.

He played soccer, baseball, he swam and hunted frogs with his friends. He turned nine in the middle of June and he found a small cupcake with a nine in the frosting and a candle and a match. He lit the candle and then blew it out and thanked the house. He smiled and waved as he hurried home before lunch. His mother always made sure to have a lunch for him for his birthday. He was on his own other weekdays. He loved eating lunch with his mother. She was always so re-assuring.

He arrived in the door to her his mother's voice float through the hallway.

"Wash your hands, then come for lunch, Tom." She was also the only one that called him Tom, except when his father was mad. He washed his hands and face and went to sit down. It was his favorite lunch, grilled ham and cheese. He sat and began to eat as his mother ate her sandwich. He looked at his mother. She always listened to him when she had time. He really had a question.

"Mom, you know that old house on that large field?" She looked at her son.

"The one with the fence in back?" At his nodded she continued, "Of course." He looked at her.

"Why is it so empty?" She looked at him.

"The person who owns it asked us to leave it alone. So we don't disturb it." He looked at her.

"Does anyone live there?" She frowned as she thought hard.

"I honestly don't know. No one has ever seen someone there, but that is not proof. I would think that for a time, someone did live there, because the fence came up."

"WHy would someone want to be that alone?" She looked down at her son in concern.

"I don't know Tom. People aren't supposed to be alone. When people feel alone, they become sad or scared. We are meant to be with our family and friends."

"What if they don't have any friends? Maybe we could be their friends?" She sighed at his eager face.

"We tried, Tom. They don't want to be friends with us." Tommy looked thoughtful as he reviewed his talking to the house.

"Maybe we didn't try the right way? Like how Jared wanted Lisa to see the fireflies, but she hates the dark." His mother sat up straight at this comment.

"When did he say this?" They diverged as he explained how the boy was always at the ice cream parlor every time he went to pick up Lisa at night.

000

Tommy was trying out his new baseball from his birthday the next day in the field when everyone showed up. They all used his baseball that day. It was thoroughly worn in by the end of the day. Sam and Jones were sitting after the others had gone home and talking when Jones went quiet. He was looking over the field when she spoke next.

"Hey, guys, have you seen my father around recently?" They both stopped talking immediately. Jones hated his father. It was practically a taboo topic around him. They glanced at each other. They had noticed last week that Gar Sampson wasn't around anywhere. Tommy's parents had spoken about it one evening when they thought he had gone to sleep already. THey hadn't said anything because Jones refused to listen to anything about his father. Looking back at their friend, they shook their heads. He frowned.

"I'm not worried or anything, its just...Mom has been looking for him. I don't know why she still tries, but she has been going out after Gil and Lay are asleep and looking for him and she's really tired already." Gilarina and Layla were only 2 and 3 and they went to bed quite early after being watched by Mrs. Jisha. Everyone under the age of seven or so was watched by Mrs Jisha. She was a gentle but firm lady that everyone adored and no one disobeyed. Once a year, on her birthday in July, the entire kid population of Keepville went to her house to cook, clean, watch the little ones and wish her a Happy Birthday. No one ever knew how old she was, but they all went anyway.

Both boys nodded as they tried to remember when the last time they saw Mr Sampson was. Tommy was the first to remember.

"I know he was at the first summer barbecue, but that was a long time ago." Sam nodded. He couldn't remember anytime after that in seeing the man. The three of them jumped when Chad sat down next to them.

"You guys are talking about Gar Sampson?" At their nods he continued. Well two nods, Jones refused to acknowledge the topic. "I was wondering a similar thing about Jordan Glider. He always would talk to Dad in the park and Dad says he hasn't been there in two weeks." They looked at each other, even Jones. Chad continued. "That isn't all. Alex, Fred-rickety, and Glenn have all disappeared." He named three other bums that were all around friendly, just out of work. They didn't know what to think of this turn of events. Bums disappearing was a hard issue, because they were bums, they weren't as important, but that people were disappearing was scary. And Gar was important to his wife if no one else presently. Tommy vowed to ask his father about it later that night.

000

Tommy's father stared hard at Tommy for a moment as if barely believing what he was saying before telling him to not worry about it and to eat his carrots. Later that night Tommy snuck out of bed and crept to where his parents were. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Lisa put a finger to her mouth as she settled next to him to listen as their parents talked about Tommy's comment.

"This is going too far! Even the children are noticing now."

"I agree, Marge, but what can we do. We don't know where they went, and you know the reaction from the police."

"Charles, we should do something. Homeless or not, they are a part of our community. And what if whatever is happening happens to our children or neighbors?"

"Calm down Marge. I"ll start asking around tomorrow. I know Jane has been looking for Gar. We'll figure this out."

"I am frightened Charles. I don't want to loose someone to this."

"I agree, but until we know what is happening what can we do?"

"I want my babies home before sunset from now on." Tommy felt Lisa's breath hitch nest to him.

"Marge, Lisa's job is important to her. You know she won't handle loosing it well."

"I know but I just want to know they're safe."

"Tommy walks home with Lisa the day she works late. Until then she's at the parlor."

"That's another thing. That boy, Jared has taken an interest in her."

"When?"

"For a while now, from what I hear."

"How about this then, I'll go and walk them home on the nights she works late." They heard their mother sigh.

"That would help. I'm just frightened."

"I know, Marge, so am I."

Tommy and Lisa retreated to Lisa's room, being closer, with wide eyes. Neither had ever heard of their father being afraid of anything. Lisa looked at Tommy. He looked troubled, as much as she felt. She pulled him into a hug and spoke into his hair.

"Don't worry, Dad won't let anything happen." She knew that it may not be preventable by their father, but she also knew, her brother needed to feel safe. He was only eight.

_Jen smiled at her screen. She was working for a company from her home. They transferred files to her and she would work with them. She sighed as she walked downstairs and made herself dinner. She graduated in another month. Three years of college was enough for her. She wanted out of this place. She would walk through the empty campus everyday and remember. Notes let, requesting this or that. Answering machine telling her that or this. Her visits home had been as empty as always._

_She sighed as she looked across the valley out her window. Another month and she would move to a small town and hid in her apartment. She resigned herself to her keyboard and began typing her final paper in Theory of Parallel Programming. She was ready to be rid of the voices._

000

Tommy and his friends all saw an increase in security over the next week. They were home by sunset or with their family. The barbecue started and ended earlier. People dropped by more often for dinner and stayed up talking. Jones began going home early to walk his mother home and Lisa's night shifts dropped to one a week.

Tommy still talked to the house though. He told it of his fears and his confusion. One evening he was still there talking after his friends had gone home. He had another hour or so. He was talking about Jones and his father when he started yawning. He was soon asleep.

He woke with a start. Glancing up at the sky he knew he was in trouble. The sun had set a few minutes ago and he was atleast twenty minutes from home. Sitting up, he noticed he was covered in a blue blanket. Looking at the house, he folded the blanket and left it on the porch. Quietly thanking the house, he sprinted off the porch towards home. Even by cutting through Mrs. Miller's yard he would be nearly a half hour late. He turned down Harris street only to trip and fall towards the ditch. He felt hand catch him and he opened his eyes to see a sharp rock inches from his nose. The hands gently set him down on the soft grass. He looked at the cloaked figure as it backed away from him quickly. It waited nearly eight feet from him.

Slowly he rose and looked at it. Gingerly he reached out his hand.

"Thank you. My name is Tommy." The figure looked at him, he assumed anyway. He couldn't really see its face. Finally it came closer and reached towards him. It shook his hand with its trembling one before jumping back fast. Tommy looked at it in confusion.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." He took a step forwards, but the figure simply retreated half a step. Tommy stopped confused. He wasn't scary, he was just Tommy. He looked at the figure to see it reaching out its hand to give him a chocolate cookie. He looked at it and then the figure again.

"Do you live in the house?" The figure froze a moment before trying to give him the cookie again. He took it gently and thanked the figure again. Then he looked around noticing it had gotten considerably darker.

"Ahh! I"m in trouble!" He took off like a shot for home, noticing the figure jumping at his screech. he dashed back to the road, stuffing the cookie in his mouth as he went. The second his feet hit the pavement, he sped home. At every tunr, he glanced behind him and saw the figure. It was keeping up with his with ease, practically gliding. He slowed a block from home and turned to face his follower.

"WHy are you following me?" His question wasn't accusatory, but the figure shrunk away as if he had screamed it. He stepped forwards a moment before the figure leaped for the side of the road and disappeared.

"TOM MARSHALL!" He now leaped a foot in the air as his father's voice broke the silence int he night. He sprinted towards home as his father roared after him.

000

_Jen laughed at the movie. She always watched a movie on Wednesday nights after her work was done. She had promised herself to never watch a sad movie, or scary movie. That was definitely out of the question. She was very successful in her job. Every now and then she out get a request to come in person, which she always declined. Even after twenty years, the company hadn't learned her quirks. She sighed. She wished she could dance with a loving man once. She turned off the movie as it got to the romantic scene at the dance and flipped to Looney Tunes._

_She celebrated her fifty-th birthday on September eleventh. She went to a Movie theater and saw a new movie. Afterwards, she went to a theme park and played all the games. She picked up her own prize. She had lots of fun. That what she told herself. She always told herself this._

000

Tommy was punished for being out so late by being forced to clean the entire house the next day and only being allowed out to play for an hour and that was it. He had known it would be pointless to argue, so he simply accepted it and spent much of his time cleaning thinking about the figure. It seemed more scared of him. He didn't think he was scary. It was definitely scared of his father, but at the time so was he. He decided that his hour out would be before lunch, so he could tell the house what happened before anyone got there and then he could quickly explain to his friends before running home.

As planned, once he finished the kitchen, the easiest room, he headed out at a run. He told his neighbor, who had been in charge of watching him for the day, and then sprinted to the field.

he walked up to the house and sat on the porch panting. He looked back at the front door. He apologized for not being here longer, but that he had to go. he told the house it wasn't either of their faults, but he had been late and you don't argue with his father about this. He explained what he had to do and how he had to finish before his mother came home. He stood to leave when he heard a creak, indicating a small gift had come onto the porch. Turning he saw a dark hand retract and saw a CD player. He picked it up ad saw that it had a CD in it. It had mini-speakers on the sides and batteries. He smiled and thanked the house before he ran off to explain to his friends what was happening.

After explaining as best he could, they didn't understand why he spent time at that old house, he sprinted home and barely made it before his time limit He sighed happily as he started the tape. The music had few words, most of which in a foreign language, but it had a hopping beat. He found himself cleaning in time with it, which was faster than he usually cleaned. He was done way early. He decided to make his mother a surprise. He found his aunt's recipe for chocolate chip cookies and began cooking.

An hour later, and a lot of flour later, he placed the cookie in the oven and turned it on. He re-read the direction before he hurriedly took them out when he notice"pre-heat" Which he remembered meant turn on the oven on before the cookie go in. He figured five minutes were enough time for the oven to get hotter. While he waited, he started cleaning up the flour on the floor before his mother got home. He also noticed they were now out of chocolate chips, partially because he had eaten them as he had cooked the cookie. He had had to guess on some of it. He didn't recognize a Tsp or a Tbls so he decided on a pinch and two pinches. He also doubled the amount sugar, since you can't have too much sugar.

When five minutes on the kitchen clock was up, he put the cookies in and set the kitchen timer to 15 minutes, turned off the music so he could hear the timer, and finished cleaning. His mother had made sure that he knew what clean meant very young and knew that the kitchen wasn't currently it. he worked hard to put it back to rights but he couldn't quite remember wher ehe had found some things so he guessed.

He pulled the slightly burned cookies out as the timer went off and set them on the hot brick. It was a large slab of rock he had brought home several years ago to show her. After some thorough cleaning it, she had made it the place for hot pans and pots, because the counter wasn't a good place for them. He smiled as he heard the front door open.

His mother was happy enough with the house. She smiled and thanked him for making cookies. He didn't notice how dinner took slightly longer to make because she was hunting everywhere for her Baking Soda, but he did remember to tell her that they were out of chocolate chips. They tried the cookies after dinner. They were interesting, Tommy decided Mom made them better. When he told her that, she smiled and told him she would teach him how to make them when she made the Christmas batch this year.

000

Tommy happily played his way through the next few days on June before he realized that his sister's birthday was the last few days of June. He was wondering what to get her when he thought to ask the house. The house was silent as ever. He never really expected a sound but sometimes he did et responses by way of gifts or quiet chuckles. He saw the figure a few times at night when he would look out his window. The figure would wave at him when he was noticed. He was glad the figure was at least leaving the house. He wished it wasn't so scared. He saw how fast it was, it would be great at baseball or soccer. He thought about the snacks, maybe it was watching them play every day. The shack had sprung up over night and the earth was tilled for a week before it stayed dirt, without grass. The kids picked the weeds themselves when a stubborn one came along. They still swam every few days. They ended early on Fridays and didn't meet on Saturdays or Sundays. Tommy saw the house on Sunday in the early evening because he would go to drop off the ball he had brought home over the weekend to practice with. He could drop it off on Monday, but this way he still at least said hi to the house.

The house continued to stand there, in the ignorance of the majority of the town. The kids didn't mind, the less they knew, the less they could yell about. Besides they were distracted by the dramatic drop in their homeless population. In fact, there were only four regular bums left. Unfortunately, they were the ones everyone wouldn't mind gone. They were no good nothings. They were crude, disgusting and slightly dangerous. Tommy heard many talks from his parents late at night about them, but no one had heard anything by the start of the last week in June.

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A/N this is for Nanowrimo . org and I'm trying for 50,000 words by Nov 29. Wish me luck! 


	2. Second Installment

This story is for the national novel writing month contest. It will not be proofed until December. Also until then the CHapters are posted when I stop writing for the day, thus there will be no strategy to the chapter breaks until Dec at which point I will redo the entire thing grammar and position wise.

**The Summer of the Black Sheep**

Tommy was looking through the market as he tried to decide what to get his sister for her birthday. He didn't have much monay and she was his sister so certain things were out, but he did want to get her something. She had gotten him a hat for his birthday. He looked around in the market as he thought about her. He just didn't know. He had tried to get advice from his friends, they had just laughed and said it was his sister so it didn't matter. The house hadn't helped either, being as silent as houses were wont to do.

He looked at the keychains, those were what Jane had recommended. Jane was Lisa's friend. Tommy had finally asked her. After explaining his budget problems and how he didn't want to get something too bizarre, she suggested a keychain or a sticker. Tommy was about to go look at the stickers when a keychain caught his eye. It was perfect.

000

_Jen hated lying in her bedroom these days. She had a hard time making it down the stairs when she wanted to go out, but there was no where to go anymore. Her job had stopped years ago, stating she was old and she should retire. She didn't think 68 was too old to work on computers, but she wasn't going to scorn free money. Not that she ever used it. She had eventualaly tired of the game she played and simply gone and grabbed what she wanted and walked home. She almost wished someone would stop her. _

_She really wished someone would._

000

Tommy wrapped his present in wrapping paper the house provided. He took that to mean it approved of his present. He wasn't sure what to think of the house these days. He didn't consider something he talked to an hour a day necessarily a friend, especially since it rarely answered and never talked back. He called his friends the kids he played soccer and baseball with and the people he swam with. They hung out at the weekly barbecue and their mothers chatted on Saturday. Those were considered friends. But what was the house? He pondered this with the house one day but he got no answer. He was starting to wonder if he would ever hear the houses voice.

"I wondered last night. I looked out the window and I thought, 'What if the house doesn't have a voice?'" No answer. "That's okay. Maybe I can talk for both of us?"

Tommy kept his word and talked more than every after that.

Lisa's birhtday came and went. Tommy's present was fine and everythingn went smoothly. Now when Tommy went to pick Lisa up at night from her job and bright yellow light, charged from the lights in the ice cream parlor, accompanied them home in the form of Tinkerbell.

000

Tommy and Sam took Jones downtown one day. They had decided to look around for his father. They didn't tell him this of course. They told him that they wanted to see where the new building was getting built. They looked everywhere. They asked some of the people that he used to still hang with and the bars that he would frequent. They all hadn't seen him in nearly four weeks. But last time they had seen him, nothing had seemed different. He was still the same old bum. Jones wasn't sure what to think of all this. They swung around town to walk home with his mother. They never did see the building being built.

000

_Jen's breathing was coming short, but she couldn't reach the glass of water. She cried slightly in fear before she took a slightly deeper breath and reminded herself that she had known that eventually she would die. Everyone did. It wasn't weird. The only difference with her is most people who die in this day and age were surrounded by doctors. She wasn't. She couldn't be. She had hated it. It had taken her several years to understand it, but she hated it more than she knew._

_She hated it as she felt life slip from her lips. She died hating._

000

Tommy sat on his stump thinking. He was very early today because his father and mother had a neighborhood meeting called at this stupid hour. He sighed as he remembered getting dressed and leacing, not willing to hang around as they left in a hurry. He wasn't sure what was going on but when Mrs Shelley had knocked this morning, waking his father. She had said something that got him bustling to get dressed and wake Tommy's mother. Tommy and Lisa had woken from the sounds of Mom making breakfast, it was habit. Lisa had grumbled when she saw the clock and fell asleep on the sofa. Tommy had left as his parents were discussing whether to wake her to bring her or not. They wern't going to bring him so he decided to head out.

He was just deciding to not disturb the house when he looked up to see the figure crouched in the grass. The grass, with the exception of where they had mowed, was well over four feet tall and easily hid the figure who was dressed in a drab greay in the early morning light. he waved and sent a low "good morning" to the figure. it nodded its head and took a step closer. Tommy started to explain why he was here at this stupid hour as the figure settled on the ground, still fidgeting. Tommy was shrugging at his confusion when the figure stood. Tommy looked at it in confusion before it bowed slightly to him then glided into the weeds and completely disappeared. Tommy jumped to follow when he heard his name called.

Sam ran over the hill so fast, he was tripping himself. This was a common enough thing for Sam without his haste to make it could hear him screeching his name. Tommy ran towards him so fast he was surprised he didn't trip himself. Gasping Sam waved for Tommy to follow him as he gasped out his news.

"Jones's.._gasp_... visited last..night.._gasp_..food and money.._breathe_.. back porch...note.._gasp _Tommy caught some of it as they ran hellbent through town towards Jones's house. He tried to understand. Someone had left food and money on Jones's porch. A note.

"Who?.._gasp_..The note.." Tommy nearly fell over at the answer.

"Gar Sampson! His father!"

000

As Tommy expected, his parents were there with Sam's and half the nieghborhood. Jones's mother held her daughters and Jones stood off to the side looking very out of place. He didn't seem to know what to do. Sam and Tommy immediately went to him. They stood there panting as Tommy tried to think of what to say. Finally he gasped out his first question, asking Jones if what Sam had said was true. Jones nodded tightly. Tommy thought he looked angry, or close to tears. Tommy himself wasn't sure what to think. Jones's low voice explained that not only had his father left food and money, but it was almost enough for the entire month. Tommy stopped. He looked around and spotted Sara Glider trying to get peoples attention. Her brother was one of the others missing. She was standing uncertainly on the side. Finally she took a step forward and whistled her loudest whistle. That did get everyone's attention, both by volume and by Sara being the quietest person around, for all she was strict in her part of the market.

In a quiet voice she explained that she had gotten a similiar present from Jordan, except it hadn't had anything for a baby in it. She said she recognized his hand writing. Everyone exploded into talk at this. Several people were sent ot check on other family of missing people. Tommy looked for his parents in the mix. They were talking with Jones's mother. He pushed his way out of the center of attention, dragging Sam and Jones with him. The crowd was getting too close.

As they burst out of the crowd, Tommy let go of Sam's wrist and breathed. Jones sat down hard as he released Sam's other hand. He was shaken. Sam stood off to the side, uncertainly. He froze when he noticed another observer. Tapping Tommy's shoulder frantically, he hissed at Jones to look. Tommy looked up to see a dark figure in the shadows off the road. Standing he saw Jones and Sam back away. He watched as the figure resolved itself into a familiar cloak. He smiled and waved. He didn't see Sam and Jones glance at him. He jogged over, followed slower by his friends. He greeted the figure excitedly.

"Hey there." The figure nodded it's head. "Did you come to see what was happening?" It shook its head negatively. "You knew?" Nod. "Does that mean you know where Jones's dad is? Jones-" Tommy turned to his friends to find them several feet behind him, staring almost resentfully at the figure. He gestured for them to come forward. "Come on!" Turning back to the figure. "This is Jones. Do you know where his father is?" The figure looked at Jones and Sam a moment, backing up slightly in the process. Finally it nodded. Tommy looked really excited. "Great! Where?" The figure looked at him. "You can tell us. Jones is his son. And this is Sam he's our friend. Please?" The figure just looked at him before backing away. Tommy frowned. "I'm not scary. Come on!" The figure continued to back away though, until it shook its head and fled through the alley. Jones and Sam stared after it a moment before staring at Tommy.

"Who was that?!?" Tommy shrugged and explained that it was the house. He _had_ told them he visited the house and talked. They looked at him. Jones finally responded.

"Then why won't it tell me where my dad is? Why can't he just come home like a normal father!" He didn't give his friend time to respond as he stomped away. Tommy looked after him then looked at Sam.

"It doesn't talk. I don't know why." Sam shrugged with Tommy. There was little they could do. Jones was very mad. They waded their way through the group until they found their parents talking. Indeed, all the missing persons had left something for their friends or family last night sometime. No one knew what to make of it. Tommy just kept staring at the alley that the figure had disappeared into, he really didn't understand.

000

Jones, for some reason or another, didn't tell his mother, or anyone about the figure. Tommy was kind of glad because he had a sneaking suspicion that if his parents found out about it, he would be in big trouble. They went home well after ten, Tommy was barely awake as his mother guided him into bed.

_Jen played with the ball. She had long ago managed to make a basket every shot. Now she was simply looking for something else to do by herself. The high school playground was so boring sometimes, but she felt better going out then just staying inside. She finally put the ball down and went over to the tennis courts. Sighing, she hit the ball at the far wall to have it bounce back. She swung and missed this time. This was her next goal._

_Science was interesting enough for the most part. Jen liked the textbook. Her father had many of them. They took up half the bookcase, much to her mother's annoyance. She settled in the back of the room to read as she forced herself to stop thinking like that._

000

* * *

A/N this is for Nanowrimo . org and I'm trying for 50,000 words by Nov 29. Wish me luck!


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